Dear Families,

Thank you for supporting the school’s SunSmart policy and sending your children in with hats. Fortunately, there were very few children who had to sit in the shade. Thank you also for considering sending your children in with masks. As you can see from the daily figures, we still have cases of COVID across the school and the wearing of masks, particularly indoors will significantly reduce the spread of COVID.

You may have noticed the uniform pool open every Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon. Members of the School Community Council open the uniform shop at these times not only to support the community with this service, but also as a way of connecting with the community during these times. If you are new to the community or would just like to chat with another parent, the committee members are more than happy to just have a chat, even if you are not buying uniforms. We know that some families may be feeling a little isolated and disconnected so please feel free to pop in and say hi.

Yesterday students participated in Clean up Australia Day. Students from various classes cleaned sections of the playground and in doing so developed an understanding of the school's litter problem. Much of the rubbish came from Canteen food waste, ie. Zooperdoopers, chip packets and jelly cups. Students in Year 3 will be visiting classrooms over the next few days to talk about what they noticed when cleaning up the school playground and why this is a problem. We will then monitor the litter on the playground and decide whether we need to close the canteen for a week. If we do decide to do this, we will notify families so you can make other arrangements for snack food. The Subway lunch orders will continue.

I will be away from this afternoon until the end of the week attending the Director’s Day and Principal’s Retreat. Carmen Myles will be Acting Principal in my absence. If you have any matters requiring her attention, please either contact her via the office or email her at Carmen.Myles@cg.catholic.edu.au

Take care and God bless

Yours in Faith

Leah Taylor
Principal

Community News is located on our website.

BRAINways EDUCATION in conjunction with the Australian Catholic University – Canberra, is pleased to offer Academicus – workshops for gifted and talented students of Canberra

Below is the list of workshops being offered.

Programs offered for students in year levels 2-4:

The Mathematics of Zebra Patterns
Rocket Science
Amazing Archaeology for Kids
A Headline Act: Writing the Headlines

Programs offered for students in year levels 5-8:

Predicting the Future with Maths
When Good Turns Evil: Frontiers in Medicine
The Big Dig: An Introduction to Archaeology
From Pigeons to Facebook: Communication Philosophy

If you wish to nominate your child please follow the following links. 

Academicus - Nomination Letter
Program Information for years 2 - 4
Program Information for Years 5 - 8

This free webinar, hosted by the Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT and delivered by the eSafety Commissioner, is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 10–18. 

Parents and Carers can register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6726877427764036623

Date of the webinar will be Tuesday 8 March 7.30pm – 8.30pm

The webinar will cover:

• What do to about accidental exposure to content about suicide, self-harm or eating disorders
• Using games, apps, and social media to support mental wellbeing
• The pros and cons of digital mental health platforms
• strategies for young people to support friends online

	Chair: Vice Chair: Treasurer: Secretary: Fete Committee: Parent Representative: Parent Representative: Teacher Representative:	Loryn Reynolds Amelia Swinbourn Kirsten Clark-Drance Natasha Williamson Stacey Campbell Max Urack Aurora Lukass Michael Prosper
Please contact the SCC via email:  sta.school.community.council@gmail.com

On Ash Wednesday last week the SCC were delighted to arrange the Little Batty Coffee van to come to the school and provide staff with hot drinks and something sweet.

This was a small acknowledgement of our huge appreciation and gratitude of all staff at STA, on behalf of all our community.

We appreciate that COVID continues to present challenges in our school and we are thankful for the staff and their positivity, dedication, caring and understanding ways with all the students.

We have a preloved clothing pool which is run by a school volunteer and is open on Monday mornings between 8:30am - 9:00am and Wednesday afternoons between 3:00pm - 3:30pm during even weeks.  Preloved uniforms can be purchased for $5 per item and are available for St Thomas Aquinas students only.  To visit the clothing pool outside these hours, please contact the Front Office to make these arrangements.

Online orders for Issue 2 due by 21 March 2022.

Scholastic Book Club Order Forms have been sent home today.

No cash orders will be accepted at the Front Office for Scholastic Book Club.

The school will still get credits and the books will still be delivered to school for us to distribute, unless parents have requested they be delivered to their home.

Please download the INLOOP App
on your device or order from the online website.

https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx

 Any questions please contact me via email ksligar@bigpond.net.au

The Music Bus is back at our school!

The Music Bus is back at our school in term 1 offering tuition in keyboard, drums, guitar, ukulele and singing. There are still places to commence term 1 and term 2,

To register your interest, go to: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/ee4627a5204c46158e1ab17e7c8069c6

For more information visit us at www.themusicbus.com.au

OSHClub provide before and after school care in our school hall.  If you need to drop off your child before 8:30am and pick them up after 3:15pm, we advise that you use the services provided by OSHClub.  Please see information below:

CANTEEN

The Canteen is open from Wednesdays to Fridays - for the first 10 minutes of each break.  We sell a limited selection of healthy canteen approved chips and ice blocks.

SUBWAY

Parents and staff are able to place Subway Orders Online.  Click on the link below to place an order and payment as well. 

Cut-off time is 9:15 AM for same day delivery.
Call on 02 6259 9101 to place your order after this time

Subway Lunch Orders can also be made, via Subway Envelope, at school.  Subway envelopes, including cash, need to be placed in the Lunch Order Subway box, located outside the Front Office,  by 9:30am on the day before the lunch is required.  For example, if you would like a lunch order on Wednesday, the lunch order needs to be manually submitted by Tuesday 9:30am.

Here is a sample of the Subway ordering envelope.  Envelopes are available from the Front Office or the classroom.

MARCH 2022
Congratulations to the following students who will be celebrating their birthday this month:

Sebastian C, Zach B, Henry B, Zeke F, Molly WS, Levi W, Sofia A, Marian R, Isaac R, Aseem H, Jayson T, Aarav S, Aryan S, Krystof M, Samuel A, Ruby R, Ellie H, Layne M, Cameron C, Astrid F, Travis GT, Laurence GT, Amboz B, Zara B, Ashlyn T,
Kupakwashe M, Sofia A, Archie W, Maxine M, May R